Device for forming openings and recesses in walls



Nov. 4 1924- J. FLOYD DEVICE FOR FORMING OPENINGS AND RECESSES IN WALLS Fil ly 18 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. FLOYD DEVICE FOR FORMING OPENINGS AND REGESSES IN WALLS Nam. 4; 924.

Filed July 18 1922 2 Sheets$heet 2 lNVENTOR A? TTORNE Y Patented Now. i, 1924.

iilhli l TATiEfi ens rair JAMES FLOYD, OF BRQOKLYN, NEE/V YORK, ASSIGNOE, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 QUADRANGLE COEPORATION, A COBPQRATION OF NEW YORK.

DEVICE FOR FOE/MING: OPENINGS AND RECESSES IN WALLS.

Application filled. July 12, 1522. Serial No. 575,898.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES FLOYD, a citizen of the United States. residing at and whose post-office address is 322 4th Street, Brooklyn, Kings County, N. Y., have in vented certain new and useful Devices for Forming Openings and Recesses in ails, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machine tools particularly adapted to forming openings or recesses in walls and other material ob jects for the reception of electrical and equivalent fixtures, although certain features thereof are of more gei'ieral application.

The object of the invention generally is a hand tool which enables the operator to form the openings or recesses at the points desired in the floors, side walls or ceilings of a building with the greatest facility and without injury to the walls, whether made of heavy board, lath, plaster, plaster board, or other material. To this end I have devised a tool or instrument which may be readily and securely applied by hand to the wall at the point desired and which by hand manipulation may be operated to form sharply cut openings or recesses therein for the reception of switch boxes and other standard electrical fixtures. The device embodies generally one or more circular cut ting saws suitably mounted as a reciprocating cutting unit within a small casing, together with means for attaching and apply ing the same to the wall and manually driving the cutting saws. The fastening devices are so arranged that they enter only the portion of the wall which is to be removed, and the walls adjacent to the out are, therefore, unimpaired by the attachment.

A further object is a device of the charac ter described which is simple in construction and of minimum parts and may be cheaply and economically manufactured.

For a better understanding of the i11- vention, together with objects and features thereof, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is an end view of my improved device; Fig. 2 is a side view thereof; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 8, 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a longitudinal section along the line 4, 4 of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a detail of a modified construction and Fig. 6 is a detail hereinafter described.

for example, by welding.

Referring to the drawings, where like numerals designate similar parts throughout, a rectangular casing is indicated by the numeral 1 having an open top and a closed bottom 2. This casing carries on its bottom a cylindrical guide and spring housing 3 which may be formed integrally therewith or attached thereto in any suitable manner, as, for example, by welding, this guide 3 being in alignment. with the central line passing upwardly through the'casing 1. The casing 1 also has a shoulder or enlargement l formed on each of the upper corners thereof, these shoulders 4 being provided with screw threaded openings therein for the reception of fastening screws and forming bearing or abutting against which yielding pads 5 may besecured. These pads may be of rubber or other suitable resilient and yielding substance to form yielding abutments. There are also provided four posts or standards 6 and 7, which are carried by the bottom 2 and extend upwardly therefrom through the casing 1. These posts may be secured to the bottom 2 in any suitable manner, as, These posts in the embodiment herein illustrated are in the form of angle irons and two of them,

ment in the fastening operation. In some instances where it would be desired to use screws for anchoring the casing to the wall, I have provided a pair of lag or wood screws 9, Fig. 6, which cooperate with the posts 6 and which may be operated by a suitable tool in the usual manner, screwing thelag screws 9 home. The bottom of the casing 2 is provided with openings 10 for the reception of these lag screws 9 and the upper ends of the lag screws pass through the guide openings 11 formed in the upper ends of the posts 6. p

The tool casing carries a combined driving spindle and reciprocating su port 12 which passes upwardly through t le guide 3 and carries a collar 13 suitably fixed thereto, which makes a sliding fit with the surfaces interior of the guide 3. Bl compression spring is: is disposed bet-ween the collar and the bottom 2 of the casing, which tends to draw the spindle l2 downwardly. The upper end of the spring engages a collar 15 which in turn abuts against the end 0? a sleeve 16, suitably formed on the bottom 2 of the casing. The upper end of the spindle 12 rotatably supports a central hub portion 17 which in turn carries two pairs of aligned stub shafts l8 and 19. The cen tral portion 17 and the shafts 18 and 19 may be integrally formed, as indicated in the drawings.

The spindle 12 passes up through the com tral hub portion 17 and is rotatable therein; a beveled gear 20 being fixed to the spindle l2 and bearing against the under surface of the hub, and the adjusting nut 21 engaging the upper surface thereof. The shafts 18 rotatably suoport adjacent their outer ends a pair of circular saws 22, and the shafts l9 rotatably support a similar pair of saws 23. The planes of these saws 22 and 28 are disposed at rightangles to each other, but it a block of another form than rectangular is to be cut, the angular relation of the saws would be governed accordingly.

The saws 22 are fixed to the rotary hollow shafts 2st as by means of the screw threaded sleeve nuts 25, the saws being passed over the reduced ends of the hollow shafts and engaging the shoulders formed therein. These rotary shafts 2d and the circular saws 22 are retained in position by nuts 26 which engage the screw threaded ends of the shafts 18. These nuts 26 serve the double purpose of retaining the saws 22 and their rotary sleeves 2a in position on the shafts 18, and also, in cooperation with the slots 27 formed in the sides of the casing 1, serve as guides for the reciprocatory movements of the tool within the casing.

Similarly, the circular saws 23 are car ried on rotary sleeves or hollow shafts 28 which rotate about the stub shatts 19 and are retained in position by the nuts 29. These nuts 29, like the nuts 26, also traverse slots formed in the opposite side wal or the casing 1, and, therefore, assist in guiding the operative parts of the tool in the recip rocating movements thereof. The members 24: and the members 28 carry on their inner ends the beveled gears 30, which mesh with the beveled gear 20 fixed to the spindle 12, so that when the spindle 12 is rotated, it simultaneously operates the circular saws 22 and 23, the ratio of the gears areferably being such as to give the proper speed to the saws for eflicient cutting operations.

The operation of this invention is as follows:

The point in the floor, wall or ceiling or other part of thebuilding in which the of the same diameter.

opening or recess is desired, is chosen, and the instrument is fastened to the wall at that point either by the two diagonally placed spear points 8 being driven thereinto, or, if desired, by the two diagonally placed screws 9 being inserted in the open ings 10 and screwed home. The spear points 8 and the lag screws 9 enter the portion which is to be removed and the yielding abutments 5, which are disposed outside of the cutting planes of the circular saws, serve to prevent the marring of or injury to the wall.

After the instrument is secured to the wall, ceiling or floor in this manner, the operator grips the guiding sleeve 3 with one hand and uses the other hand to operate the spindle l2, and any kind of a suitable hand operated device may 3e employed for engaging the free end 31 of the spindle 12 and imparting to the same the required rotary movement. in some cases a power driven device may be attached. to the spindle 12, but ordinarily and preferably a hand operated device such as a carpenters brace or hand drill is sidiicient. The rotary movement thus imparted is transmitted through the bevel gears to the circular saws 22 and 23, which proceed to cut the wall on lines in the form of a rectangle. As the circular saws advance, the operator merely presses forward the spindle 12 against the tension of the compression spring 14 to properly feed the saws forward during the cutting. When a cut of suflicient depth is made, or when the saws go through the ceiling or wall, the operation is discontinued and the instrument may be removed or detached by either withdrawing the spear points 8 0r unscrewing the lag screws 9; The saws make a true rectangular cut, but at each corner there will always remain a short uncut portion. but these uncut portions may be readily finished by asuitable instrument, as. tor example, by a chisel, or in most instances the block may be knocked out at once without attempting to carry the cuts all the way to the ends of the rectangle. In some cases the cuts may be made deep enough so that the block can be removed with theinstrument without first disengaging the spear points 8 or the lag screws 9. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the circular saws 22 are of smaller diameter than the saws 23, this being desirable and also necessary in the embodiment, shown on account of the size of the casing. It the cut were of some other figure than a rectangle, as, for example, three-sided and of equal lengths, it would be possible to have the three saws Moreover, there is an advantage in the embodiment herein illustrated in having one set of saws 22 of smaller diameter than the saws 23, in that at the beginning of the cut, only two of the saws, namely: 23, are operating, so that a minimum of power is necessary to initiate the cutting operation. in the particular embodiment illustrated, the saws 22 slightly overlap the saws :23, but, if desired, the saws 23 may be caused to overlap the saws 22, instead.

The operation of attaching the instrument to the wall and cutting the opening or recess is very readily performed, and the walls of the hole are sharply and smoothly cut; and the only parts of the instrument which bear upon the wall adjacent to the out are the yielding abutments 5, which prevent injury to or the marring of the surface. Moreover, the instrument itself is simple and of minimum parts and may be inexpensively manufactured.

In Fig. 5, I have illustrated a modified construction embodying a positive feed of the spindle 12, as it is rotated during the cutting operation. This may be effected by simply internally screw-threading the guide sleeve 16' and externally screwthreading the spindle 12, as indicated. Any suitable ratio of feed may be devised, as, for example, 3 2 inch per turn, but will depend upon the efliciency of operation and cut ting of the circular saws. A friction drive between the spindle and rotary hollow shafts carrying the circular saws may be employed in some cases, instead of the bevel gear drive illustrated.

I claim:

1. An instrument of the character set forth, comprising a frame work support adapted to be attached to a wall to be operated upon, a mechanism carried on the support and reciprocable thereon, comprising a plurality of circular saws arranged and adapted to cut the wall on lines forming a substantially closed figure, an. attaching device carried by thesupport and engaging the wall at a point within the figure defined by the planes of the saws, and means whereby the mechanism may be reciprocated and the saws rotated.

2, A device of the character set forth in claim 1, in which the support is provided with yielding abutments disposed outside of the figure defined by the planes of the circular saws for limiting the attaching movement of the device and cushioning the abutting engagement.

3. In an instrument of the character set forth, an open ended casing, a cutting unit disposed within the casing and adapted to be reciprocated out through the open end thereof, said unit comprising a plurality of rotary saws disposed at an angle to each other and defining a closed figure Within the aforesaid casing, securing and attaching devices carried by the casing and projecting through the figure defined by the saws and out beyond the casing, guide carried centrally of the casing and a rotary spindle passing through the guide and operatively associated with the cutting unit.

4. in an instrument of the character set forth, a frame Work support and a reciprocable cutting unit therein comprising a pair ofparallel rotary saws arranged to cut an object along two parallel spaced lines, a sec ond pair of parallel rotary saws arranged at right angles to the first pair and spaced from each other a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the saws of the first pair, the saws of the second pair being of sufficient diameter to cut the object along lines joining the cuts made by the first pair of saws to form a closed rectangular cut, thev rectangular space between the cutting'ranges of the saws being free from any protruding substantial. space occupying or severing or chip removing devices so that an intact rectangular section may be severed, and means for anchoring the instrument firmly against the object to be cut during the cutting operation.

An instrument of the character set forth, comprising an open-ended casing, a guide formed on the closed end of the openended casing, a rotating and reciprocating spindle passing into said casing and through said guide, two pairs of radiating stub shafts of unequal length relatively rotalively mounted on one end of said spindle and contained in said casing, a circular saw rotatively mounted on each of said stub shafts adj acent its outer end, said saws being arranged to form a substantially continuous rectangular cut in an object to which the device is applied, means disposed between said saws and said spindle for transmitting a rotary movement from the spindle to the saws; means for guiding the stub shaft unit in the reciprocating movements within the casing, comprising retaining devices carried on the free ends of the stub shafts and traversing slots in the sides of the casing.

6. In a device of the character set forth, an open-ended rectangular casing, said casing having a tubular guide centrally aligned therewith and carried by the closed end of the casin said casin also havin a securb L: b

ing post projecting outwardly through the open end, the free end of said securing post being suitably formed to enter the object to be out; said casing also having on each of its sides a centrally located guiding slot, a combined driving and supporting spindle passing up through said centrally aligned guide and adapted to be reciprocated with one end passing the open end of the casing; a cutting unit journaled upon the lower end of said spindle for relative rotary movement, said cutting unit comprising four stub shafts extending out to and Within the aforesaid slots; a circular saw together with a rotary ll U hub or sleeve mounted on each of said stub shafts; a beveled gear carried by each of said rotary sleeves and meshing with a similar beveled affixed to the aforesaid spindle, one pair of said circular saws being of smaller diameter than the other, for the puroose set forth, and retaining and guid ing nuts carried by the outer ends of said stub shafts and traversing the aforesaid slots.

7'. In an instrument of the class set forth, a. frame or casing open at the top, a plurality of securing posts therein to accommodate screws said posts each having a guide opening at the top thereof and each spaced a different distance from any side wallof the casing the bottom of the frame or casing having a plurality of orifices communicating with the openings at the top of the securing posts, a plurality of angularly arranged cut ting devices located in the frame or casing and positioned intermediate the latter and the securing posts, attaching means comprising screws to enter and co-operate with the securing posts to fasten the frame or casing to the object to be cut and means to operate all of said cutting devices simultaneously, and also means to advance or retract the cutting devices as a unit at will with a progressive movement relative to the frame or casing the space between the cutting devices being free from any protruding substantial space occupying or severing or chip removing devices whereby an intact rectangular section may be removed,

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JAMES FLOYD. 

